Method of simultaneously producing light hydrocarbon motor fuel oil and carbureted water gas



June 24, 1930. F, A, HOWARD 1,767,455

METHOD 0F SIMULTANEOUSLY PRODUCING LIGHT HYDROGARBON KOTOR FUEL OIL AND CARBURETED WATER GAS Filed Nov. 5, 1923 Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED STATES FRANK A.

'DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, A- CORPORAHQN ,QF ,DELAWARE HOWARD, or ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, AssierNoiay "ro` STANDARD om METHOD oF SIMUrJrANEoUsLY- rRoDUorNG LIGHT HYDEooARBoN Moron. EUEI. oIL I k:AND cAaBUE-ETED WATER ens Application ined November '.lhis invention is a method of' jointly manufacturing carbureted water gas and volatile hydrocarbon motor fuels and will be fully understood from the following specication.

It is well known that relatively heavy hydrocarbon oils, such `as petroleum distillates having a boiling point range from 450o F. to 800o F., are Well adapted for gasmanufacture by cracking. This process is usually carried out in connection with the manufacture of blue gas orwater. gas, in which case the oil is .va'porizedand cracked in Vone part of a combination apparatus, another part of whichis employed for furnishing thel heat for the entire operation and for making the water gas byalternately serving as a gas` producer and as a water gas generator.y It is, characteristicv of this process that the cracking of the oil is carried on in an atmosphere-V of blue water gas, that is, van atmosphere of Which` hydrogen represents about-5,0%, neglecting undecomposed steam. I In accordance with this invention, ythe peculiar conditions which obtain under these circumstances are controlled and utilized to produce simultaneously, and eliciently and in maximum quantity both gas ,of `the desired calorific value 011B. t. u..rating'and llow-boiling oils (boiling, say,below 4009 VVa-lved gas outlets l2 and 13 fromthe gen- In theaccompanying `drawing a combination water gas generator and oil apparatus suitable for l In the drawing the numeral 5v a water gas generator, which isy charged with fuel (coal, coke, etc.) through-.charging door 6, the fuel bed being indicated lby numeral 7. Air for blasting is suppliedv through valved pipe 8. Steam may be suppliedA below the fuel bed through valved steam pipe 9 or above itthrough tuyreslO supplied from valve-controlled header-.111.

erator 5 are provided above and below .the fuel'bed respectively, lead-ing into Athe inlet pipe 14 to the carbureter `15;" A.l 16 for air opens into the .top lof the carbu- A 5, '1923. 'serial No'. 673,015.

valved'pipe 20.V

p cracking carrying Aout the invention is shown in vertical section. :pipe 35 so that oil A.passes off designates These: .gases pass on reter. .The carbureter isl provided internally with checkerwork 17..` `At its topV is a spray pipe 18, which maybe fed with oil through valved vpipe y19 or withV steam through '1 From the carbureter `l5V an outlet or throatv 2l leads into the rsuperheater 22. A

valved pipe 23 for supplying air vmay be l tapped into the bottom'of superheater 22. The superheater ,22 is providedV internally with a checkerwork V24C.' Itstop iscloscd by valve 25, directly:V below stack 26.` An outlet pipe 27 provided with a valve28 leads into the .top of the condenser. ojr, ,wash 'box 29, -which kis provided withy 'a spray pipe 30V through which water may be introduced. Near its base the condenser 29 is provided with a liquid into a separator 32.Y A valved gas pipe 33 makes ,communicationbetween ythe wash box 29 and separator 32 above therein. The separator-32 is provided with apartition 34 which is located at some dis.- tanceV from the inlets of ,pipes 31- and 33. and extends Adownwardly `fromthe. top of y theseparator to below the liquid level therein ,and terminates somewhat above ,the 4bottom 'of the. separator. A-gas withdrawal pipe 36 `and anfoil overflow pipe 37 are located on the same side ofthe partition 3-l as the inlets ofy pipes .Bland 33. On the other sideof said partition the separator 32'is provided with a water voverflow pipe 35." The'oil overflow pipe 37 terminates in an open end located above the connection of by pip@ 37- and water by pipe 35,. VThe gas pipe. 86 leads to asuitablegas holderf (not shown). VThe operation of this apparatus is as follows: The generator 5 is blasted with air Vthrough pipe 8,7tl1e depth of the fuel bed being Vso great"that the combustion gases, are more or less richV iu carbon monoXide. through the checkered spacesof `the carbureter l5 and superheater 22'.v may b e admitted .either into the top bottom. of superheater 22v throughv pipe 23 or b oth as required to producel the requisite amount of combustion to 'raisethe temperaoverflowpipe 3l which leads the liquid levels `of. carbureter I5 through .pipe 16 or into the ture of the checkerwork 17 and 2&1 to the desired points. By varying the air blast to the fuel bed of the generatork to regulate the CO content of the gas produced, and by control of auxiliary air, the temperatures may be regulated through ai very wide range. During this time the stack valve 25 is open. IVhen the fuel bed, carbureter and superheater have reached the operating temperatures, the air blast is shut off and valve 25 is closed. c Steam is admitted either to the top or bottom of the generator, passing up or down as the case may be, to be decomposed with the liberation of hydrogen and the simultaneous production of carbon monoxide and forming blue Water gas.

The mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and undecomposed steam passes from the generator 5 to the top of the carbureter 15, into which the heavy hydrocarbon oil is sprayed through pipe 18. The Voil is vaporized almost instantaneously and the vapors carried by the high velocity current of mixed carbon monoxide and hydrogen pass through the heated checkerwork of the carbureter and superheater.

I have discovered that by a proper control of the temperature of thev carbureter and superheater, and a proper correlation of these temperatures to the capacity or volume of the system and the rate of flow of the gases and vapors through it (these two last named conditions governing the time element of the cracking), the character and extent of the thermal decomposition ofthe oil may be controlled to produce a substantial vyield of light hydrocarbons suitable for motor fuel. At the Sametime, the process of water gas manufacture and carburetion for which the apparatus is primarily 'designed, may be carried on without loss of eiiiciency or capacity, the production of motor fuel being made an incident of the regular operation of the carbureted water gas plant. In this way, the conversion of a certain proportion of the oil treated into permanent gaswhich is an undesirable incident and an economic loss in an ordinaryv cracking process for producing motor fuel from heavy hydrocarbon oil-becomes an economically desirable feature.

` In carrying out the present invention, the successive operations of blowing, simultaneous gas making and oil feeding, and purging are carried out along the general lines of established water gas manufacturing practice, the periods during operations of each cycle are conducted being determined, however, by the temperature conditions which it is desired shall .prevail in the carbureter and superheater. In carrying out the process, the controlling temperature conditions are preferably selected as those prevailing in the throat 21 and the superheater outlet 27, as temperatures taken suitable rate,

which the successive at these points are not greatly affected by radiation from more or less incandescent portions of the apparatus, as is the case with temperature readings taken within the carbureter and superhcater. IVith suitable compensating factors taken into consideration, such internal temperatures may be employed however for control instead of the throat and outlet temperatures, if desired. v

In carrying outlthe operation, the temperature atthe throat 21 between the carbureter and the superheater is maintained at from 1200 to'1300 F. and preferably from 1250l to 1290 F. These temperatures are average temperatures, and the variation from maximum to minimum so averaged may be from 150 to 200 F. The temperatures of the gases leaving through the outlet 27 from the superheater are maintained at an average of from 1050 to 1200o F., and preferably between 1100 and 1150 F. The variations of temperature in the outlet so averaged may be from to 75 F. from maximum to minimum.

In running the apparatus, air blasting the fuel bed varies from three to four minutes, the precise time being determined by the temperature in the throat 21 and out-let 27. As soon as the desired-temperatures arev reached at'these points steam is introduced'into the generator and :oil is simultaneously fed into the carburetor for a period of, for example, tivo minutes at a Y which, in the case of a gas set of the size known as an eight foot six inch set, was found to be from 20 to 25 gallons per minute. On larger or smaller sets, the rate of feed of oil maybe correspondingly varied. After the period of oil feedlng paratus is purged in the usual manner, at the end of whichr time the cycle is repeated.

Under the conditions described, gas of a calorific value of 580 to 670 B. t. u. per cubic foot is manufactured at a rateof from about to 100% of the-rated capacity of the set, and at the same time light oils (boiling bclow 400 F.) are produced tothe extent of 15 to 20% of the total oil fed into the set. Therfollowing specific example illustrates more fully the present process, the Vgas set employed Y in the tests referred to being known as an 8 ft. 6 in. gas set. ,Thegenerator was 9 ft. outside diam., 7 ft. inside diam., and 15 ft. high. The carburetorwas 8 ft. outside diam.,'6 ft. inside diam., and 17 ft. high. The super-heaterV was 8 ft. outside diam., 6 ft. inside diam., and 22. ft. high. The Wash-box was 6 ft. diam., by d ft. high. The results obtained in a representative test on the above gas set using a regular, commercial gas oil of 89 Be., With an initial boiling point of 394 F. and 90% olf at167 5 F.,'were as follows:

Duration of test, 3 hr. 43. min.; average the period of yr steam pressure is increased and the api Water gas per cubic feet of naiy practice (20% length of complete cycle,VA 7.4 min.; oil per cycle (gallons), 40.6; oil per min. (gallons), 20.3; total oil used (gallons), 1220;percent of total oil recovered as oil, 27.8; percent of oil recovered as oil boiling below 4000 F., 18.0; total gas made, cu.- ft., 225,900; percent of rated capacity of set, 94; B. t. u. of gas, per cubic foot, 665; average throat temperature, 0F., 1276; average outlet temperature, 0F., 1129; average steam` pressure, down run, lbs. persquare inch, 10; average steam pressure, up run, lbs. per square inch, 20.

The light oil is suitable for use as a motor fueland at least one-half of it consists of paraffin hydrocarbons. It is recovered yby portional distillation of the tar whichvcondenses in the wash-box, scrubber, or condenser ivith which the water gas set is equipped, and by scrubbing the gas with a:

suitable absorbing agent in the regular maiiner heretofore used for recovery of rbenzol, toluol, etc., from carbureted water gas.

In operating at the rate speciiied, that is, at 90 to 100% of the rated capacity of the set, 970 to 1080 cubic feet of carbureted water gas per minute are produced. Since the volume (including checker work) of the cracking space, that is, the combined volume of carburetor and the superheater, is about 1102 cubic feet, the gas production is between 880 and 980 cubic feet of carbureted minute pei-1000 cubicv feet of checker Work packed cracking space.

The oil rate is about 5.4 gallons per 1000V gas produced, that is 15 to 20% the rate normally required forv greater than enriching the Water gas to the standard B. t. u. rating for illuminating gas. The rate normally required to so enrich the water gas is equivalent to 4.9 per 1000 cubic feet of cracking space. i j

It will be notedV from the foregoing eX- ample that there .was used 5.4 gallons of oil per 1000 cubic feet of ing to ordinary gas practice the Vproduction of a gas of this heat value would require apfeet, the calorific value of the water gas being about 300 B. t. u. I therefore employ, according to my process a substantially larger amount of oil than in ordiso modify'the condition of operations that this excess of oil is very largely recovered `additional refractory gallons per minute checker-work packed `arating and collecting gas produced, and that this gas was of 665 B. t. 11. rating. Accord- Y 1 sand cubic feet of gasof 665B. t. u. rating,-

passing the resultingfgases andvapors -over material heated to such a temperaturev that the gases and vapors leave it at a temperaturebetween 11000 and A12000 F., andl subsequently condensingand separating from said gases' and vapors Vthe condensible vlowboiling point oil.

2. The method of producing light hydrocarbon motor fuel mined caloriicvalue; ing a body of incandescent carbonaceous material with steam, thereby producing water gas, passing the Water gas over hot refrac tory material and injecting such heavier hydrocarbon oil t-liereinto, the temperaturejof said refractory material being such that the mixed gases and vapors leave it at v fromV l 12500 to 12900 F., passing the resulting gases hydrocarbon oil injected into` oil fromheavier hy. drocarbon oil and simultaneously manufacturing carbureted `water gas of predeterwhich comprises blastcontrolling the proportion of said gas so that not over about 80% thereof is converted into vfixed gas and oil of boiling point above; 4000 F. while securing finished gas of the desired caloriiic value, and sepfrom the gases and vapors the condensible` oils having boiling points below 4000 F. Y

" FRANK A.LHOWARD.

or more in excess) but Y as a. low boiling distillate suitable for motor Y fuel.

I' claim: Y 1. The method of producing light hydroi carbon motor fuelV oil from heavier hydrocarbon oil while simultaneously manufacturing carbureted water gas of predetermined t. u. rating;

which comprises blasting a Y 

